FROM BENEATH YOU IT DEVOURS
courtesy Landslide Blog (links to)
I cannot believe I missed the news that on May 10th, a family of four was swallowed in a landslide because the clay beneath their Quebec home was of an unstable ancient variety – so fragile that “[e]ven a fly landing on the surface can set it off.” Instant liquefaction, instant entombment. The family golden retriever survived the tragedy; he was tied up outside. This “quick clay” is notorious in the region. The Times article notes that in 1991, the entire town of Lemieux was relocated because of the risk of landslide. Indeed, just two years later the old site went under.
Can you imagine this? One minute you are enjoying your favorite television program, perhaps munching on some popcorn, or maybe you’re updating your blog, and then the lights go, there’s a trembling, and then – what? a whoosh? a sucking sound? a roar as earth suddenly moves like water? But who has crawled out from the center of the earth? (Besides Buffy.)
At any rate more evidence that it really is a “step off the sidewalk and into a bus” kind of world. Chin up, eyes open, kids. Take your pleasures where you may, because you never know when the ground is going to get hungry.
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